


Vacation Through Time (I did NOT sign up for this!)

by a_dot_burr_ell



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Crossover, F/F, F/M, Gen, Kataang - Freeform, Korrasami - Freeform, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-12 23:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3359855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_dot_burr_ell/pseuds/a_dot_burr_ell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra and Asami aare visiting in the Tree of Time until a freak Spirit World storm forces the girls to travel through time. When they awake, they find themselves smack in the middle of the Hundred Year War and no clue how to get home. Will Aang be able to help them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was just a little something that came out of wondering what it would be like if Korra and Asami could meet the old Gaang.

For a place Korra was so keen to have her see, it looked slightly menacing. There was a purple glow around the sky as if it was in a perpetual state of twilight and the beams of the spirit portals seemed to stretch on forever. There were cracks in the ground and huge boulders overturned everywhere you looked. It looked like a battlefield.

“So this is where you fought with Unalaq?” Asami asked, taking in the jagged peaks and gnarled trees.

“Yeah, that’s where he ripped Raava out of me and severed my connections with my past lives.” Korra pointed to a snow covered boulder and then to the Southern Portal. “And that’s where he fused with Vaatu.”

“Does it make you uncomfortable to be here?” Asami asked, studying Korra for any signs of distress.

Korra shook her head. “No, I’ve pretty much accepted what happened here. I even came back here when I was, uh… Well, you know.”

Asami cocked an eyebrow at Korra’s hesitation. “You don’t have to dance around the topic. I know why you left and you don’t have to explain anything to me. We’re starting fresh, remember?” Asami told her, grabbing her hand and threading their fingers. “But I would like to hear anything you’d like to tell me about it. When you’re ready.”

“I want to tell you about it. It’s just hard.” Korra sighed, staring momentarily at their hands.

“There’s no rush.” Asami assured her and Korra smiled in response.

Korra thought about that. Those three years were still hard for her to talk about but there was a part of her that was ready to start letting someone in. “I came back here to try and reconnect with Raava. It didn’t work at the time but I ended up meeting a young spirit here. He wanted to help and, even though I turned him down at the time, he was the one that guided me to the swamp. As you know, that’s where I met Toph and that’s where the Airbender kids found me.”

Asami nodded. “One of these days you’re going to have to tell me everything that happened with Toph.”

“It was crazy; I’ll definitely give you that.” Korra laughed, leading Asami over to the base of a large tree. “I can’t imagine what she must have been like when she was young. I don’t think I can picture her like Su but I can’t see her acting like Lin, either.”

Asami laughed. “The way Bolin tells it, she was a bit of a hell raiser.”

“She still is!” Korra shouted, jumping up and swinging from one of the tree roots that were suspended in the air. “She was tossing me around that swamp like a rag doll and she’s ancient!”

“So this is the Tree of Time?” Asami asked, climbing over the first root.

“Yup. During Harmonic Convergence, I saw visions of my past within the tree.” Korra shrugged. “When I came back to try and reach Raava, I was so blocked that I didn’t see anything. I’m hoping this time will be different.”

A spot of cold hitting her cheek let Asami know that something was off. Looking up, she noticed that there were a few severe looking storm clouds rolling in and there was the distant pitter-patter that was getting closer.

“Is that… rain?” Asami asked, holding her hand out and feeling a drop of water hit her palm.

“What?” Korra asked distractedly until a drop of water hit her too. “I didn’t know it rained in the spirit world!”

“You didn’t?” Asami blinked, confused.

“I haven’t spent a ton of time here.” Korra reminded her, pointing to the opening in the large tree. “Come on in here, we can at least wait out the rain.”

They climbed over the huge roots of the tree, Korra letting the water pelt them so that she could help Asami up to the platform within the tree. The inside was cavernous, twisting around to give the tree high walls and a ceiling that created a wide, protected, room for them to sit.

“Did you get wet?” Korra asked, helping Asami into the tree.

“Not even. But is that… lightning?” Asami gasped, watching the clouds darken and rumble. She leaned over the ledge of the tree, gazing out towards the flashing sky. A tendril of lightning hit a nearby tree, lighting it on fire and causing both girls to jump back. “That’s not something I expected to see here.”

“Asami, look out!” Korra shouted, rushing forward and placing herself directly in the path of the lightning. Korra’s eyes flashed white as she caught the lightning with one hand, pulling it into herself.

Asami watched as the lightning circled around Korra’s shoulders, the bender’s face skewed in concentration, as she redirected the lightning away from Asami and towards the back of the tree. Panic flared as Korra fell forward, body limp and her eyes returning to their normal blue. Asami rushed over to Korra, rolling her over awkwardly since she was still wearing her pack, and noted how Korra smelt slightly singed.

“Are you ok?” Asami asked, cradling her head.

“That’s the first time I’ve redirected lightning.” Korra mumbled, sounding disoriented. “It was harder than I thought.”

“Mako would be proud.” Asami chuckled, getting a weak smile in return.

“Do you hear a weird ringing?” Korra asked, her brow knit in confusion.

At first, Asami assumed that it was just a side effect of the lightning but, as she focused, she became aware of an ethereal ringing and flashing lights behind her. Looking over her shoulder, Asami saw pictures projected against the wall of the tree as if she was watching one of Varrick’s movers.

“What in the world?” Asami gasped, unable to take her eyes off of the people in the pictures. This must have been what Korra had been talking about earlier. “Is the tree supposed to be doing that?”

“Yeah, but… are they moving backwards?” Korra asked, following Asami’s gaze.

The pictures were, indeed, moving in reverse. The figures moving almost too fast to make out anything distinguishable until they stopped on a picture of a little boy with blue arrows tattooed all over his body. Behind him were several other kids but they were distorted.

“Avatar Aang?” Korra gasped, not sure what she was seeing.

“Is it getting warm in here?” Asami asked, feeling the ground around her heating up.

All around them the tree was beginning to glow and heat up until it was searing through their clothes. Electricity continued to hum in the air and Asami felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

“What’s going on?” Korra wondered, struggling to sit up.

“I don’t know but we should get out of here.” Asami suggested, jumping to her feet.

“Asami, my legs still feel like jelly.” Korra said, rubbing her thighs. “It’s gotta be the lightning.”

“Ok, come on!” Asami leaned down, wrapped her arms around Korra’s waist and heaved upwards.

Korra was a lot heavier than Asami remembered, causing them both to stagger until Korra was able to regain her footing. Asami chalked it up to Korra’s restored muscles, the girl had lost a ton of weight after the fight with Zaheer, and was thankful that she had kept up her own training regime during their three years apart.  

Finally on her feet, Korra grabbed Asami’s hand and tried to lead them out of the tree but they were cut off by an influx of wind that seemed to be pouring in from the storm outside. It pulled at their hair and clothes, keeping them inside the tree of time. Korra tried to use airbending to shift the raging wind away but it was quickly becoming a vortex.

“Hang on to me! I’m going to try and airbend us out of here!” Korra shouted, her voice barely audible over the roaring wind.

Asami gripped Korra’s waist as the bender tried to lift them out of storm but the wind around them was too powerful and they found themselves thrown back to the ground. Unable to move more than a few steps one way or the other, Asami felt Korra wrap her arms around her waist, shielding each other as the wind whipped around them and her vision faded to black.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Korra’s head was pounding, her back aching from lying on her backpack for so long. Looking around, Korra spotted her girlfriend stirring a few feet from her. The sun was beating down on them, signaling that it must be somewhere around noon, and they were currently in the middle of a forest. It didn’t look anything like the area around the Tree of Time and Korra briefly wondered if they were even in the spirit world anymore.

“Ugh.” Korra groaned, sitting up. “What happened? Asami, are you ok?”

“I’ll manage.” Asami croaked, rolling off to the side. “Do you have any idea what happened?”

“Not a clue.” Korra admitted, standing and helping Asami up. “I don’t even think we’re in the spirit world anymore. Let me climb one of these trees and try and get an idea of our location.”

“Ok, be careful.” Asami said as Korra took of her backpack, handing it to her.

Swinging her arms in a circle to generate a burst of air, Korra lifted herself into the air and grabbed the closest branch she was able to reach. She climbed quickly with use of her bending, reaching the top and steadying herself against the trunk. All around them were trees that stretched on for miles. There were no visible signs of life other than a large plume of smoke that was rising from the north. Discouraged, Korra hopped down to the ground next to Asami.

“It’s no good. The forest stretches on for miles in every direction except for that way.” Korra pointed. “The only thing I could see was some smoke.”

“Well, fire means people so we may as well go and see what’s going on.” Asami shrugged, handing Korra her backpack.

“I just don’t understand how we could have been blasted out of the spirit world.” Korra shook her head. “Even if we had been thrown through the portal, we should have ended up in either the North or South Pole.”

They started walking, wanting to reach wherever the smoke was as quickly as possible. They passed the time theorizing what could have happened, laughing as Korra came up with more ridiculous explanations. By the time the sun was beginning to dip in the sky, the girls stumbled upon a burned structure.

It was large, at one time it may have been a temple or abbey, but now most of the walls were charred and crumbling and everything inside was blackened. Still, the place seemed to be home to several people, all of whom were varying in age but seemed lost. Korra was immediately reminded of the homeless camp she had seen when she’d hidden from Amon in Republic City all those years ago.

“It looks like a refugee camp.” Asami commented quietly, her eyes roving around the scene.

“Do you think these guys were hiding from Kuvira?” Korra wondered. The war with Kuvira had ended several weeks ago and the Earth Empire’s prison camps dismantled; these people could have been displaced since then.

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Asami shrugged. “If it is, we still don’t know how we ended up in the Earth Kingdom from the spirit world.”

“Well, no reason not to ask.” Korra said, stepping forward.

“You still go for the direct approach.” Asami chuckled, following Korra.

“Um, hello!” Korra called, trying not to scare anyone. Despite trying to sound friendly, several of the younger people gasped before gathering whatever belongings they had and ran out of sight. “Hey wait!”

An older woman stood from the makeshift campsite and stalked over to them, blocking their path and forcing the girls to take a step back. “Who are you? What do you want?”

“Well,” Korra started calmly. “I’m the Avatar and I was just wondering if you guys needed any help. Are you guys hiding from the Earth Empire? Because I know that most of the forces have been dismantled by now-.”

“The Avatar? Ha!” The old woman interrupted, laughing in her face. “How stupid do you think we are? Everyone knows that the Avatar is that little bald headed monk. What do you want? Are you a Fire Nation spy?”

“What? A Fire Nation spy…” Korra trailed off, totally confused.

“What more can you possibly take from us?” The woman asked bitterly, throwing her arms up in the air.

“Wait, hold on! We’re not from the Fire Nation!” Korra yelled, trying to get through to her.

Finally the old woman started to really look at her. “Well, what do you expect!? Coming over here and pretending to be the Avatar! Especially with this one dressed in red and black like a Fire Nation soldier!” She pointed to Asami.

“What?” Asami exclaimed, glancing down at her signature Future Industries outfit. “This is the logo for Future Industries.”

“Future what now?” The old woman asked, eyes narrowed.

“Hey, we’re just trying to figure out where we are. We’ve gotten a little lost.” Korra said, holding her hands up in peace.

“I believe I can help you.” Someone said behind them. All three of them turned to see a woman in a white habit decorated with a brown sash approaching them. “We are currently at the place where my abbey used to stand.”

“What happened to it?” Korra asked, happy to talk to someone who wasn’t yelling at them.

“We here at the abbey had remained neutral in the war but a few months ago when the Avatar came to our doors we knew that we must stand behind him.” She explained. “There was an attack and we allowed the Avatar to escape. As a result, Fire Nation troops burned down our home.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Korra asked, getting steadily more confused. “The war was between Kuvira and the United Nations, not the Fire Nation.”

The nun narrowed her eyes. “Please do not mock us. The war is very real and the Fire Nation has taken many lives. I simply came to deliver supplies to the refugees here. I must be going.”

“But wait!” Korra tried to stop her. “What war are you talking about? Avatar Aang ended the war over 70 years ago! He used the eclipse, er, no, the comet to defeat Firelord Ozai.”

“My dear, the eclipse has passed. And while Omashu may be a free city again, I can assure you that the Firelord still reigns.” She answered, frowning. “I can no longer speak to you about this. I have more supplies to pass around.”

The agitated nun turned and continued to distribute her goods. The girls were left alone feeling extremely confused. The only people that remained were seated around the fire and were glaring at them. Asami turned her back on the campfire and pulled Korra further away so that they could talk in private.

“What was that about?” Asami asked, frowning.

“Who knows? I think these people are a little confused.” Korra said worriedly, glancing around the taller girl.

“Maybe we’ll have better luck in town that nun mentioned.” Asami said, pointing in the direction of the road.

“Sure, why not?” Korra shrugged. “We’re not going to get a straight answer out of these guys.”

Korra turned on her heel and walked out of the ruined abbey, heading towards the road with Asami on her heels. The walk wasn’t too long but it was getting darker as they approached the town. The first thing Korra noticed was that there were Fire Nation guards that were stationed at the gates. They eyed them suspiciously but let the girls pass into the small town.

“What is going on around here?” Korra whispered to Asami as they headed up the street.

The buildings around here were old, and there were no Sato Mobiles to be found. There were only carts that were pulled by ostrich horses and makeshift stalls that sold produce. It was nothing like the expanding metropolis that Republic City was and much simpler than any place Korra had ever seen.

“There are no street lamps, no Sato Mobiles, no paved roads.” Asami remarked, glancing around. “And what’s with all the Fire Nation soldiers?”

“The nun had said that the Hundred Year War was still going on.” Korra continued, jumping to the side as a horde of Fire Nation soldiers marched past. Korra couldn’t help the feeling of dread that was beginning to make its way into her system. “There has to be a way to figure this out.”

“Those uniforms look old.” Asami commented, trying to study the closest guard without drawing attention to herself. “Is this even possible?”

“Did you hear about the Avatar?” A young girl’s voice caught their attention.

Both women turned towards the voice to see a couple of kids passing a ball between them. They looked to be around seven or eight years old, and seemed to be relatively happy, if not slightly under fed. They were oblivious to their audience as they carried on their conversation.

“Yeah, on the day of black sun he went to the Fire Nation.” The boy answered. “But there are still soldiers here so I guess he didn’t win.”

“Yeah.” The girl answered sadly.

“Excuse me.” Korra interrupted.

The kids stood quickly, scared. “Who are you?” The girl asked.

“Hey, it’s ok.” Korra told them, holding her hands up in front of her. “I was just wondering if you could tell me how long ago the eclipse was.”

“Um, eclipse?” The girl asked, confused.

“The day of black sun.” Asami clarified.

“Oh, that was only six days ago.” The girl answered, casting a suspicious glance at Asami who tried to smile reassuringly.

“No way.” Korra mumbled, turning towards Asami. “I don’t know how, but it looks like that storm sent us back in time.”

“Oh my.” Asami gasped, leaning heavily against the wall and sliding down until she was sitting. “Korra, what are we going to do?”

Korra felt her knees weaken so she slid down the wall next to Asami.  “We are in the middle of the Hundred Year War. How could this happen?”

According to those kids, Avatar Aang had just launched his failed invasion of the fire nation. It wouldn’t be long before Avatar Aang fought the Firelord for control of the world. Korra had no idea how she and Asami could have gotten into this mess.

“Miss, are you ok?” The little girl asked Korra.

“Yeah, sorry. We just realized that we were lost worse than we had originally imagined.” Korra tried to smile reassuringly.

“You’re lost?” The girl asked, walking over and standing in front of them.

“Yes, and it’s getting dark. We have to figure out what we’re going to do.” Korra said to no one in particular.

“My family runs an inn. You could come talk to my mom.” The girl suggested. She waved goodbye to her friend and waited for Korra and Asami get up. “Come on!”

“Really? Ok, thanks.” Korra smiled, trading a quick look with Asami before standing up.

“Follow me. My name’s Lily.” The girl said, leading them down the street.

“I’m Korra and this is Asami.” Korra replied, smiling down at the little girl.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Asami said kindly.

“Come on, it’s not far.” Lily said, leading them through town.

As they followed Lily to her family’s business, Korra contemplated how she would explain her predicament to people. They were lost in the Earth Kingdom, they had no money since they’d been vacationing in the Spirit World, and were totally clueless as to how they had managed to travel back in time. It was obvious that it had something to do with the storm when they were trapped in the Tree of Time, but Korra had no idea how to reverse it.

All she knew was that she couldn’t go around saying she was the Avatar when most people knew that Aang was the current Avatar. She supposed that she should just claim to be a waterbender; her clothes screamed Water Tribe, after all.

Lily led them to a small building with a welcoming sign above the door. The little girl ran through the open door, beckoning them inside. “Mama! We have a guest!”

Korra gazed around the front room as Lily ran in the back. It seemed that the front room was a small restaurant. Towards the back of the room was a small desk that somewhat blocked a staircase that led, presumably, to multiple rooms upstairs. Soon Lily returned pulling a middle aged woman behind her.

“Hello.” Korra said, boing slightly. “My name is Korra, this is Asami.”

“Welcome, ladies.” The woman replied, eyeing them critically. “Were you looking for a room?”

“We were.” Korra began, shuffling her weight from one foot to the other. “But we don’t have any money.”

“No money? How does that happen?” The woman asked suspiciously.

“Uh…” Korra paused, still unsure what to say.

“We were robbed.” Asami interjected, picking up on Korra’s hesitation. “Fire Nation soldiers took all our money. We were able to keep our things, but they took everything else.”

The woman’s face softened. “I’m so sorry to hear that. The soldiers have become brutal since news of the failed invasion reached us. Please have a seat. We can provide you with dinner and a place to stay tonight.”

Both girls thanked the woman profusely and her young daughter smiled as the mother went to get them some dinner. Korra felt guilty for deceiving these nice people but there was really no other way to get all the information they needed. Lily’s mother returned with a bowl of soup and some bread for each of them, placing the bowls on the table.

“Thank you!” Korra said, not hesitating to start eating. She had been starving since she hadn’t eaten anything for an entire day.

“You two can take the first room on the left upstairs. I hope you two don’t mind sharing.” The innkeeper said, not noticing when the girls exchanged a knowing smile.

“Of course not.” Asami exclaimed.

“We’ll manage.” Korra assured her, grinning.

“Alright, is there anything else you might need?” She asked.

“Well, we’re pretty turned around. Do you happen to have a map?” Korra asked innocently.

“Of course. Lily can you grab that?” The woman asked her daughter.

The girl nodded and ran to retrieve it. Korra handed the map to Asami, watching as her girlfriend unrolled the scroll on the table. The Earth Kingdom dominated most of the map, with the water tribes colored in blue at the top and bottom and the fire nation colored red to the west. All around the Earth Kingdom there were several stars marked with the cities names. Korra couldn’t help but let her eyes travel to where Republic City should be, noticing that the area was unmarked.

“We are here.” Lily said, pointing to a star just left of where Republic City should be.

“Where did you say you were headed?” The woman asked.

“Um, the Southern Water Tribe.” Asami invented, not taking her eye off of the map.

The inn owner nodded her head. “You should be able to get to the edge of the Earth Kingdom alright but I’m not sure how you’re going to get across the ocean.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.” Asami agreed. “But we can think of something later.”

Now that they knew where they were, Korra wanted to go up to the room and figure out their next step. A brief nod from Asami let her know that they were on the same page, so Korra yawned loudly.

“You two should get some rest.” Lily’s mother suggested, taking their empty bowls.

“Thank you again for the food.” Asami said, rolling up the map and giving it back to the young girl.

Lily’s mother waved off the thanks, asking her daughter to help her in the kitchen. Korra led the way up the stairs, finding the room they were going to stay in quickly. It was a simple room that held only a bed, dresser and desk. They removed their backpacks and placed them on the dresser before making their way to the bed.

Korra lay down first, stretching her legs out. Asami sat on the edge of the bed near the headboard, swinging her legs up until she was sitting up in bed with her legs in front of her. Korra scooted closer and Asami rearranged herself until she was holding the her.

“Asami, what should we do?” Korra whined.

“And here I was going to ask you the same question.” Asami laughed, running a hand through Korra’s short hair. “First we have to figure out what happened.”

“Well, let’s look at the facts.” Korra sighed, wracking her brain. “We were in the Tree of Time and there was some spirity event that sent us back in time.”

Asami’s hand paused on Korra’s head. “The lightning.”

“What about it?” Korra asked, looking up at Asami’s face.

“You redirected it into the tree.” Asami recounted. “It was after that things went all crazy.”

Korra thought about that. “You’re right. That’s when I saw the vision of Aang.”

“Do you think something about the electricity activated the tree somehow?” Asami wondered aloud.

“It’s possible, I guess.” Korra shrugged. “But if that’s the case, the only chance we have of getting home would be in the spirit world and with the spirit portals closed, there’s no way to get our physical bodies there. Plus, Vaatu is trapped within the Tree of Time right now. I can’t mess with that.”

“We do need to be careful with messing with things, though. We don’t want to create any paradoxes.” Asami added, sighing.

“Right!” Korra exclaimed, jumping up. “I’ve heard of those! If you step on a butterfly you could end up causing a huge tsunami or killing your dad!”

“Korra, I think you’ve watched one too many of Varrick’s movers.” Asami chuckled, remembering the exact mover Korra was referencing. “That’s not really the way it works. It’s more like what if knowing what happens in the future causes us to make changes in the past, then the future wouldn’t exist the way we remember.”

“Hey, that mover was really good!” Korra replied. “Plus, how do we know what we should or shouldn’t do? That’s all confusing.”

“I think we should be ok as long as we don’t give away too much information.” Asami shrugged.

“So no more claiming to be the Avatar. Got it.” Korra laughed. “How do you know so much about this stuff?”

“There was an article that was circulating a few months ago about the innate properties of time that came from the University in Ba Sing Se. It was pretty fascinating.” Asami explained.

“Oh.” Korra said thoughtfully. “So what are we supposed to do? It’s not like we can find Tenzin. Do you think those guys at the university would help?”

“No, the author won’t write the article for more than 70 years, I doubt we’ll get help there.” Asami sighed. This was turning out to be more complicated by the minute.

“Then what?” Korra wondered aloud.

Asami was quiet for several moments. “Aang.”

Korra sighed. “I don’t have my connection to my past lives.”

“No, I mean the real Aang.” Asami said. “If we’re in the middle of the Hundred Year war, then he and the rest of Team Avatar will be here somewhere.”

“You’re right!” Korra said, sitting up. “All we have to do is find him and then... Aang will still have his connection to our past lives! If he can’t help us, then maybe one of them can!”

“That’d be a start.” Asami shrugged.

Korra swiftly kissed Asami. “You’re a genius! So I guess we just have to find him.”

“Do you have any idea where he might be?” Asami asked, her face flushed from the impromptu kiss.

“Hmm…” Korra sat cross legged on the bed. “I always fell asleep during the white lotus history lessons.”

“Well, this is still before they fight the Firelord, right? What about all that time you spent with Toph? Did she mention anything?”

“Yeah, she was a wealth of knowledge.” Korra said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “She gave me, like, zero details! Believe me, I asked.”

“So you don’t remember?” Asami prompted.

“Well, I do remember some things.” Korra qualified. “I remember Tenzin saying that before Aang faced the Firelord, they hid out at the Western Air Temple. I think that maybe our best shot of finding them.”

“Do you know how to get there?” Asami asked hopefully.

“Yeah!” Korra said excitedly. “ It’s the one that hangs upside down from the face of a cliff. I still remember from that crazy vacation Tenzin had planned a few years back.”

“How long do you think it will take us to get there from our current location?” Asami asked.

Korra shrugged. “Probably three or four days since we have to walk. No chance you can whip up a satomobile is there?”

“Could I build one? Sure. But it would take weeks to forge the parts without the proper machinery.” Asami explained.

Korra pouted. “Fine. Walking it is.”

Asami laughed. “Well, I don’t know about you, but after travelling back about seventy years in time then walking all day on an empty stomach I’m exhausted. What do you say we get some rest before we hike halfway across the Earth Kingdom?”

“You’re the boss.” Korra agreed, leaning down to pull off her boots.

They quickly changed into their pajamas, Korra in an undershirt and soft drawstring pants, Asami in a nightgown. Korra had seen Asami wear the same thing every night that they’d been on vacation but she still flushed self-consciously when they got into bed together.

Seeing the blush on Korra’s face, Asami rolled her eyes, pulled back the covers and patted the bed next to her. Korra smiled nervously but climbed into bed next to Asami, curling into the older girl. Asami wrapped her arms around the bender, scooting down until they were both comfortable. There was an oil lamp that they had turned on that Korra now blew out with a bit of airbending and a flick of the wrist.

Now in the dark, the girls snuggled into one another, cuddling under the blankets. They appreciated the addition of the bed; they had spent the previous two weeks in the Spirit World sleeping on the floor under an earth tent. The lumpy mattress was heaven compared to what they’d been experiencing, but now that they were relaxing, Korra was able to let herself relax and drift off to sleep.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the positive feedback! Here's the next installment. Enjoy.

Korra and Asami descended the stairs the next morning, redressed, carrying their packs, and ready to thank their hosts and leave. Korra noticed that the front room doubling as a restaurant was open today since there were several men in the front room, eating and laughing. As soon as the innkeeper saw them she ushered Korra and Asami to a seat.

“Have some breakfast, dears.” She said, handing each of them a plate. “We also have this for you.”

Lily handed Korra a small bag. Looking inside, Korra saw a couple of loaves of bread and some other food wrapped in cloth and at the bottom was a blanket.

“Oh, no! We couldn’t possibly-” Korra started, shooting Asami a look for help.

“Honestly, we couldn’t impose any more than we already have.” Asami said, grabbing the bag from Korra and trying to hand it back.

The woman waved her off. “Nonsense. If we don’t help one another, then what’s the point?”

They continued to try and give back the unnecessary supplies but they were unable to dissuade the woman from her decision. Finally, Asami took the bag of food and thanked her for their kindness.

Just then, the front door slammed open and three Fire Nation soldiers barged in. Everyone in the building fell silent and the girls watched as Lily’s mom visibly paled.

“We heard we could get some breakfast here!” One of them shouted while the others laughed.

“Of- of course.” She responded, shaking.

Korra’s eyes narrowed as she watched the soldiers take up residence at a table.

Several of the men eating quickly paid for their food and left, not making eye contact with the soldiers. Korra saw Lily follow her mother, trying to help carry the extra plate to the soldier’s table. As Lily was about put the plate on the table, she tripped and spilled its contents on one of the soldiers. He howled with pain and jumped up, scowling.

“You stupid girl!” He shouted, clenching his hands into fists.

“I’m so sorry!” Lily cried as her mother tried to pull Lily behind her.

“You’ll pay for that!” The other soldiers stood to join their friend and they all ignited a ball of fire in their hands.

Korra looked over to the family who had shown them so much kindness; they were terrified, backed into the corner by these firebenders. If Korra could get three of these soldiers distracted enough to follow her, maybe they would forget the food. Korra locked eyes with Asami  and the look on her face let Korra know that her girlfriend was just as opposed to the benders’ bullying as she was.

Within seconds, Korra was on her feet and Asami had her hand plunged into her pack and was pulling out her electric glove. Korra grabbed her empty plate and threw it at one of the soldiers head. The one she hit staggered and the flame he held vanished. He looked back at Korra, scowling.

“Come on and pick on someone your own size!” Korra shouted, taunting them with a cocky smile.

Surprised, the other two turned to face them. “Who do you think you are? You’re under arrest!”

“Only if you can catch us!” Korra and Asami grabbed their packs dashed towards the door.

The soldiers ran after them as they weaved in and out of the crowds on the streets. She didn’t know how long they could run before they started firebending but at least they could dodge.

“Clear the street!” The soldiers yelled, pushing people out of their way and Korra felt a surge of heat pass by her head as the firebending finally began.

“Whoa!” She yelled, rolling to the side.

“Korra, we have to get off the streets before someone gets hurt!” Asami yelled, dodging a fireball of her own.

“This way.” Korra responded, waving Asami down an alley with a dead end. “Woops.”

“It’s ok, sweetie.” Asami said, settling into a fighting stance. “Now we fight, I guess.”

The soldiers were gasping from running but as soon as they saw she had nowhere to go they laughed. “Nowhere to go now, girlies.”

All three of them prepared to attack but Asami was already on one of them. The hum of her electric glove could be heard over his gasp of pain, blue light crackling until the soldier passed out. Korra circled around her, stomping on the ground and using her earthbending to bend a column of earth up to knock out a second soldier.

“Let’s get out of here!” Korra grabbed Asami and used earthbending to propel them upwards until they landed on a nearby roof.

“Earthbender!” Korra heard the last soldier shout as they ran across the roof.

“Good one!” Asami cheered, easily keeping pace.

They made it out of the town by using the rooftops, laughing at their own cleverness. They had made it to the main road before they stopped running, fully satisfied that they had lost those soldiers.

“Nice work with the earthbending.” Asami commented as they started their journey west.

“Yeah, I figure I can use whatever bending I want as long as no one sees me bending more than one element.” Korra said, shrugging.

“Or airbending. Remember that Avatar Aang is supposed to be the last airbender.” Asami reminded her.

“Right.” Korra nodded, looking out to the empty road. “I guess we better get started then.”

****~~~

  ****

Falling back to their previous travelling habits was easy but inconvenient. The girls spent their nights in earthbent tents, cuddled under the blankets they had. They cooked using Korra’s firebending and freshened up whenever they found a stream and they followed the road at a distance to avoid the roving firebenders that seemed to be patrolling the area.

By the second day of travelling, they had nearly run out of food and they were exhausted. Asami had no idea how far they were from the next town but she knew that if they didn’t get there soon, they may lose their chance of finding Aang. Around noon, the girls came across a small encampment of soldiers that they would have to go around in order to continue so they hid behind a nearby tree to plan their next move.

“I think we can double back and just circle around-.” Korra was mumbling.

“You know, our supplies are running pretty low.” Asami started, keeping her voice low. “Maybe we can get some refills from these guys.”

“We’ll need a distraction.” Korra smirked.

Asami knew that smile. “What did you have in mind?”

Korra pointed to a tree that was closed to the encampment. “I can jump down from there and cause a scene. Then when you’re done we’ll meet back by that river we passed.”

“There has to be, like, five guys there. Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Asami asked.

“No sweat!” Korra scoffed.

“Alright, be careful.” Asami said, giving Korra a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I will.” Korra promised. “Just be ready to get anything you can carry.”

“Roger that!” Asami said playfully, shooting Korra a mocking salute.

Korra laughed and quickly jumped up into the tree branches. She came to a stop on the closest tree, trying to plan her attack. There were about five soldiers sitting around a fire, joking and eating, completely unaware of her presence. Figuring that she would need some extra muscle to put on a show, Korra let herself connect to the Avatar state, feeling the power flowing through her.

Korra jumped to the middle of the camp, bringing her fist down to the ground with the force of her landing and sending the earth around her rippling out. The soldiers that were closest to her fell over as the ground rolled, their gasps and shouts of surprise mildly amusing as Korra straightened up.

“What in the world?” Someone yelled.

“She’s an earthbender get her!” Another shouted.

She could see several others coming out of their tents, surprise and anger on their faces. Falling back into a fighting stance, Korra watched as the soldiers got up from the ground and rushed her. It seemed like not all of them were benders as some of the soldiers grabbed spears and short swords. She dodged back and forth, drawing everyone out of the center of the camp.

Knowing that Korra was occupying everyone’s attention, Asami quickly raided the empty tents. She was able to find ample food and a few water pouches. In one of the larger tents she found a sack of gold and, after deliberating for a moment, she decided to take that too. Asami exited the tent and saw that Korra was still keeping everyone occupied.

Asami could tell that Korra was enjoying herself by the wide grin and the cocky taunting; it was nice to see. Their lives had been hectic so long that it nice Korra using her bending in a non-fatal situation. She kept an eye on the fight for a few more seconds until Korra spotted her.

Giving the bender a thumbs up, Asami could tell that Korra saw her when she immediately turned on her heel and took off towards the woods. The soldiers seemed confused by Korra’s quick departure and attempted to follow so Asami took off to where she was meant to meet Korra. She tried to pass the time by reorganizing their packs but didn’t relax until Korra arrived.

“So what did you end up stealing?” Korra asked cheerfully, as Asami pulled her into a tight hug. “You okay?”

Asami laughed, resting her chin on Korra’s shoulder. “Yeah, I just couldn’t help being a bit worried.”

“It was no trouble, really.” Korra assured her, squeezing her tight. “It was actually kind of fun.”

“I could tell.” Asami said, pulling back. “You were wiping the floor with them.”

Korra spent the next few minutes animatedly recounting the fight, giving Asami the blow by blow breakdown. It was nice to sit by the river and eat a quick meal before getting back on the road. By Asami’s calculations, they still had another couple of days to go before they reached the sea side town that was closest to the Western Air Temple and then they had to figure out which island the hidden temple was on. At least now they would be continuing their travels with a full stomach, a small favor that Asami was grateful for.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been away. I've been super sick. But after Bryan released that Turtleduck Date Night fan art, my Korrasami feels have been kicked back into high gear. Anyway, enjoy.

Their pilfered supplies lasted them another two days, depleting the morning before they reached the small town on the bay they’d been aiming for. The Fire Nation presence was just as prevalent here as it had been in the last few towns and Korra supposed that it was because of the town’s close proximity to the Fire Nation.

 

“I’m going to go see if we can rent a boat.” Asami said, digging around in the money pouch and handing Korra several coins. “Why don’t you go see if you can get us an actual meal?”

 

“What? You getting tired of my famous fish fillet?” Korra said, pretending to be hurt.

 

Asami laughed. “Yes and I would like something a little less fishy, please.”

 

“I’ll see what I can do.” Korra agreed, giving her a kiss on the cheek before heading through the town to find an eating house.

 

After several minutes of searching, Korra finally spotted a restaurant that with a sign that advertised various kabobs. She headed inside, buying enough for both of them and even getting them some sliced fruit for dessert. Happy with her purchase, Korra exited the eating house and was about to go look for Asami when someone grabbed her shoulder hard and turned her, hard.

 

“Hey!” She said irritably, nearly dropping the food she was carrying. She turned to see a young woman in a Fire Nation uniform with her hair pulled back and two strands of hair framing her face. “Watch it!”

 

The girl was eyeing her critically, her grip on Korra’s shoulder painfully tight. “Now what would a girl in Water Tribe clothes be doing all the way out here?”

 

“Hey, get off of me!” Korra told the girl, breaking the girl’s grip and freeing herself.

 

“I asked you a question!” The girl growled, her face twisted in rage.

 

Her tone immediately irked Korra. This girl couldn’t have been more than fourteen or fifteen and yet here she was, haughtily demanding information from her. Korra had some twinge of recognition that was pulling at the back of her mind but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

 

“Several members of the Water Tribe attacked the Fire Nation capital several days ago. Several of those terrorists escaped with the Avatar. Were you there?” The girl demanded, stepping forward menacingly.

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Korra replied coolly, trying to walk away. The girl made another grab for her so Korra slapped her hand away. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

 

“Oh? You don’t know me?” The girl scoffed. “I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation and I think you know where the Avatar is hiding.”

 

Korra’s eyes widened. Princess Azula was a formidable foe that took both Lord Zuko and Katara to take down. Korra glanced around, searching for an escape route. She had to find Asami and get as far away from here as possible.

 

“So now the question becomes, do you come quietly or am I going to have to take you down first?” Azula said threateningly.

 

Korra must have hesitated too long because the princess suddenly shot a ball of blue flames at Korra’s feet. Korra gasped and leapt back, dropping the food she’d just bought. She was surprised by the amount of heat generated by the shot. Korra turned and ran, trying to put some distance between them but Azula followed, routinely shooting more fire at Korra’s head. Korra was gaining no ground in her retreat with Azula close on her heels until the princess landed a shot to her back and Korra felt her pack take the brunt of the attack. Korra abandoned the bag as it smoldered, tossing it aside as she continued running.

 

Figuring she may as well attack back, Korra turned and dug her heels in and brought her arms together in an upward motion. A large piece of rock jutted up from the ground and sent Azula into the air. Korra smirked, happy to have rattled the princess until Azula landed on her feet.

 

“Of course.” Korra lamented, disappointed that her ploy didn’t work.

 

“An earthbender?” Azula cried, confused. Korra used the girl’s hesitation to launch several small pieces of rock at her target. Azula, however, was quick and was able to close the distance between them and shoot a stream of flames at close range.

 

"Ah!” Korra yelled, covering her face and leaping backwards, feeling the fabric of her arm braces burning slightly. Korra used the opportunity to hit a rock towards Azula, hitting her in the stomach and sending her flying backwards. Suddenly the two girls head two people approaching as one of them began to yell.

 

“Azula! We’re here!” A girl with pink clothes and a long braid yelled.

 

"Ty Lee! Mai! Contain her!” Azula shouted, returning to her feet.

 

The pink girl was followed by another girl in dark clothing and the two promptly encircled Korra. The girl in the dark clothing sent several knives flying her way which Korra blocked with a wall of earth. The pink one kept trying to get in close but Korra was able to keep her off with her earthbending. Azula recovered while her friends kept Korra occupied and sent a barrage of flames at her that finally allowed Ty Lee to get close enough to hit Korra with her chi blocking moves.

 

“Uh, no!” Korra screamed as she felt her bending disappearing in her right arm.

 

This feeling brought back the memory of fighting Amon and his Equalists. It had been years since Korra had felt this. Korra hit the girl hard with a rock that she had sent flying, but her bending was weakened since she was only able to use one arm. She was only able to keep them at bay for a few more minutes until Ty Lee hit the pressure points in Korra’s left arm and leg, leaving her without her bending and with only one stable leg. The three girls closed in, binding Korra’s arms behind her with some rope.

 

“Take her back to the airship, I want to question her later.” Azula said, standing over her. “Oh, Mai, did you ever figure out what message your uncle had for you?”

 

“Funny you should ask.” The knife girl said in a monotone voice. “My uncle has captured your brother.”

 

“Really?” Azula said, amused. “Well this is perfect! We can head out for the Boiling Rock immediately!” Azula looked down at Korra. “And once I’m done questioning you we can simply leave you at the Fire Nation’s best prison.”

 

“That’s convenient!” Ty Lee exclaimed cheerfully.

 

“Isn’t it?” Azula laughed, snapping her fingers. “Now get her out of my sight.”

 

The two girls led Korra out of the town and into a giant airship. Korra tried to struggle but the blocked pressure points had turned her limbs to jelly. She was beginning to panic that she would lose Asami but Korra was unable to break away.

 

“This won’t hold me for long.” Korra warned as the girls led her away.

 

“Oh, I know.” Ty Lee said cheerfully. “The chi blocking should only hold for an hour. But the airship is made of metal; there won’t be anything for you to bend in there.”

 

“That’s what you think.” Korra mumbled snidely.

 

~~~

 

“Thanks, I’ll be back as soon as I find my friend.” Asami said, smiling at the toothless man who had agreed to let them take his boat.

 

“No problem. But you aren’t going far are you? Because a little dingy like this won’t get you far with just the paddles.” The old man told her, counting out the gold pieces Asami had given him.

 

“Don’t worry, my friend is a waterbender.” Asami assured him.

 

“Oh, well then you’ll be fine!” He agreed.

 

Asami thanked him again and headed back into town to find Korra. She was surprised that her girlfriend was taking this long and wondered if Korra had run into any trouble. All around her there were people huddled together, talking in low tones. Frowning, Asami wandered closer to see if she could eavesdrop.

 

“What else did you see?” A woman asked nervously.

 

“Not much! As soon as they started shooting fire everywhere I got out of there!” The guy said. “All I know is that they were taking the girl on to the airship.”

 

Asami felt her stomach drop. They couldn’t possibly mean Korra, could they? Asami picked up the pace, now frantically searching for Korra. She turned the corner and paused when she saw the street full of scorch marks, forgotten knives, and displaced earth. Something off to the side of the street caught a scorched backpack. Closer inspection confirmed that it was Korra’s. It was obvious that a serious fight had occurred and Asami was now in full blown panic.

 

She grabbed the bag from the floor and dumped the contents on the floor. She shoved Korra’s clothes into her bag, briefly wishing that she had Naga to track Korra. Asami discarded the singed bag and extra food, not wanting to weigh herself down any more than necessary before slinging the bag back onto her shoulders and taking off. After searching down a few more streets, Asami spotted Korra being led onto a large airship docked on the outskirts of town. Her heart leapt up into her throat; Korra had been captured. Several soldiers boarded the airship and Asami heard the engines start. She needed to find a way onto that ship. There was an airman checking things off a list by the entrance to the ship, probably doing the takeoff checklist. Equipping her electric glove, Asami made her way her way over to the airmen. He spotted her as she crept up, holding up his hand to stop her.

 

“Miss, this is a private airship, you need to step back.” The man said gruffly.

 

Asami didn't answer, simply zapping the man until he dropped. Asami bent down and dragged the man away from the airship, grunting slightly at the man’s weight. She dragged the body around the nearest corner, letting him drop to the ground with a thud. Now without any guard, Asami quickly boarded the airship and searched around the entrance for the way to close the ramp. After a few minutes, she realized that she was searching for a way to close the door like her own airship would have.

 

In Future Industries’ airships there was a simple button that retracted the ramp but this model was old and was closed through a pulley system. Asami closed the door, securing it and heading further into the airship. She was about to see if she could find Korra when she heard footsteps so Asami threw herself behind a tied down crate.

 

“Did you see Chan come back in?” A soldier asked, his voice echoing from behind his mask.

 

“No, but the door is shut so he must had headed up to the control room. It’s time for takeoff.” Another replied.

 

She waited until the footsteps retreated before coming out. “Ok, now where would they put Korra?”

 

~~~


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami and Korra are reunited

The girls had led Korra into a room that was empty except for a cot and a metal desk. Korra had kept up a continuous stream of threats as the teenagers deposited her in the room, closing the door behind them and laughing. Korra struggled against the ropes tying her hands behind her back but, until her bending returned, she didn’t have a chance to free herself. Figuring she might as well save her strength, Korra tried to get as comfortable as possible on the hard cot. 

 

After a few minutes, Korra felt the airship roar to life and begin to move. She could sense that the airship was moving quickly, presumably taking her further and further away from the shore. She hated having to wait to escape but she knew that it was useless since the fire nation girls had left her in this big metal box. She tried to use her time to plan her escape but her mind kept difting back to Asami. Korra knew that Asami was able to take care of herself but that didn’t stop her worrying on how they would find each other if she got too far out to sea. 

 

Eventually, Korra felt her arms return to normal and she knew she would be able to bend again. Concentrating, Korra lit a fire in her palms to burn away the rope that was binding her. As soon as the rope was gone, she ran to the door only to find it dead bolted. Korra was about to metalbend the door open when she heard the firebending princess approaching. The girl was talking to someone, her voice harsh and demanding.

 

“Set the course to the Boiling Rock, captain. I have a prisoner to question. Do not disturb me.” She concluded.

“Yes, Princess.” The captain answered, his voice wavering for a moment. 

Korra heard Azula’s footsteps right outside the door so she pressed herself against the wall. If she played this right, she could escape without having to reveal more of her bending. The door clanged as the lock was unsealed and the door flung open.

“So now we’re going to have a little chat-” Azula started smugly but stopped when she saw the cot was empty. “What in the-?”

Seizing this chance, Korra grabbed Azula by the front of her armor, flinging the girl forward. Azula hit the wall of the cabin and slid to the floor with an undignified thud before trying to scramble to her feet. Korra exited the room, slamming the door behind her and using metalbending to reseal the lock.

“Filthy peasant!” Azula raged, her fists pounding on the door. “Guard! Captain! One of you incompetent fools let me out of here. NOW!”

Korra heard thundering footsteps approaching so she turned and ran in the opposite direction. The hallway was cramped and lit by only a rudimentary lighting system that gave off a dim glow. Korra figured her best bet was to jump and airbend her way out of a nasty fall and she wondered if she could find an exit of if she just needed to metalbend herself an exit. Korra heard someone with light footsteps turn the corner behind her. Korra tensed and prepared to fight whoever it was until she saw Asami running towards her. Dropping out of her fighting stance, Korra ran out to meet her, hugging the other girl tightly.

“Asami!” Korra exclaimed, pulling back to stare up at her face. “How’d you get on board?”

“I electrocuted the guard.” She said casually, shrugging her shoulders. “How did you end up getting caught in the first place?”

“One of them is a chi blocker.” Korra explained as they continued down the corridor.

Asami’s eyes widened. “Wow, really? That takes me back.”

“Yeah, I was surprised. And this airship belongs to Princess Azula. She was a bit harder to fight then those soldiers I took down a few days ago.” Korra told her, smiling wryly.

“Well, we should get out of here while we can.” Asami suggested, grabbing Korra’s hand and interlocking their fingers.

“Oh, it’s too late for that.” An angry voice growled. 

 

Azula was back, huffing angrily and flanked by Ty Lee and Mai. The Fire Nation girls were ready for a fight, staring down Korra and Asami. The girls assumed fighting stances, and Korra could hear the low hum of Asami’s glove as it activated.

“The one is pink is the chi blocker and the gloomy one throws knives.” Korra warned Asami.

“Got it.” Asami answered, rushing forward and shoving the electric glove into Ty Lee’s abdomen. The girl yelped in surprise at the quick attack, raising no defenses as Asami electrocuted her.

“Ty Lee!” Azula shouted angrily as Ty Lee dropped to the ground. Mai swiped angrily at Asami, getting close to cutting the older girl with a flick of her knife.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Korra cried, throwing herself at the scowling girl.

Korra knocked her off balance and allowed Asami to stay out of reach. Knowing that those knives would be nothing but trouble, Asami shocked Mai quickly and stood back as the tall girl fell to the floor, unconscious. This left Azula as their last opponent. The Fire Nation princess was fuming and shooting fire every which way, endangering not just Korra and Asami, but her own unconscious friends as well.

“How dare you!?” Azula screamed, firing wildly.

Trapped in the confined space of the airship corridor, Korra was hit by several flames as she tried to shield Asami from the brunt of the attack. She felt her arm covers singe and the skin of her forearm blister from the amount of heat that Azula was throwing. Moving in close, Korra was able to sweep Azula’s legs out from under her, the teenager landing on the floor with an ‘oof’.

“Quick! Over here!” Asami pulled Korra after her.

The girls ran but Azula wasn’t down for long. They heard the teen’s scream of frustration as she came after them. Asami ran around the corner and took cover behind a large, sputtering, machine and grabbed Korra as the girl tried to run past her.

“I can get us back to the lower deck if you can airbend us out of here.” Asami whispered.

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to airbend?” Korra asked sarcastically.

“I think our options are pretty limited at this point. Unless you want to just commandeer the entire ship.” Asami replied, smirking. 

“Yeah, no.” Korra deadpanned.

“Okay, let’s go.” Asami led Korra out from behind their hiding space.

Asami mostly remembered the way down to the lower deck and the two of them were able to find it without them running into any guards. Not wanting to have to crank the pulley, Asami aimed a kick at the mechanism and watched in delight as the ramp lowered. Wind rippled around them as the sky was revealed and the girls saw that they had travelled away from the Earth Kingdom and were positioned over the ocean.

“Alright, you ready?” Korra asked, moving close to grasp Asami’s waist.

“There you are!” Azula shouted as she approached, pulling one arm back and releasing another powerful shot at the two women.

“Enough!” Korra shouted, using her own firebending to negate Azula’s shot. She was tired of being cornered because she could only use one element at a time.

Azula was staring shocked at Korra, unable to figure out how she diverted her firebending. “How did-?”

Korra grabbed Asami and jumped out of the airship.  Jarred out of her shock by Korra’s sudden movements, Azula ran to the edge of the platform. Not wanting to be outdone, Azula focused her energy to produce lightning and shoot it at the two women as they fell. She knew that at least some of the lightning had hit because the girls began falling in a different direction that they had originally jumped. Azula was shocked a second time, however, when the girl summoned a stream of water to surround the two of them and slightly break their fall into the water.

“Azula, did you get them?” Ty Lee asked as she and Mai ran towards her.

“Good, you two are alright.” Azula said distractedly.

“Yes, it seems whatever device that they used was short lived. What happened?” Mai asked, following Azula’s gaze.

“The Water Tribe girl negated my attack, then she and her friend jumped into the water.” Azula told them.

“So then they’re dead?” Mai asked, assuming that the fall had killed her.

“No, first she diverted my firebending and then I ended up hitting her with my lightning but she used waterbending to break her fall.” Azula told them.

“Wait. She was earthbending earlier.” Mai said, looking at Azula critically.

“I know, and I’m pretty sure that she used firebending to divert my attacks.” Azula said.

“But, Azula, only the Avatar can use more than one element.” Ty Lee reminded her quietly.

“Don’t you think I know that?!” Azula snapped. “But I’m telling you! She used more than earthbending!”

Azula stalked off, leaving her friends worrying for her in the corridor.

* * *

 

Down in the water, Korra used her waterbending to propel both her and Asami to the surface of the ocean.

“Ah!” Korra gasped, taking in air.

Asami coughed, spitting seawater out of her mouth. “Korra! Did she get you?”

 

“Ugh. Yeah, but it just grazed me.” Korra told her, her face scrunched in pain. “The water stings, though.”

Asami looked into the sky and watched the airship fly off. “Do you think they’ll come after us?”

“I think we shouldn’t wait to find out.” Korra said, trying to use the water to heal some of her burns. “The Western Air Temple should be northwest from here, we may as well head there rather than going back to the Earth Kingdom.”

“Okay. But do we have to swim there? Because I’m sort of sinking over here.” Asami said, her head barely above water.

“What?” Korra asked, looking over to see Asami having a hard time treading water because she was still wearing her backpack. “Oops, sorry.”

Korra froze a patch of water the size of a raft and used her bending to push them both onto it. Korra laid flat on the ice and Asami sighed in relief as took the drenched pack from her shoulders. The engineer removed her electric glove and began examining it.

“This is going to take a major rewire before I’m able to use it again.” Asami murmured unhappily, turning the glove over in her hand.

“Sorry.” Korra said tiredly.

Asami smiled and ran a hand through Korra’s wet hair. “It’s okay. How are you feeling?”

“Exhausted. But I don’t just want to sit here in case they come back.” Korra said, standing up.

Their little raft swayed as Korra stood but she maintained her footing. Korra used her bending to add a rudder made of ice to help direct their raft and even added a back support for Asami. Seeing the addition, Asami slid over to rest against the support, clutching her backpack to her chest.

“You ready?” Korra asked.

Asami gave her a thumbs up. “You’re good to go.”

“Alright!” Korra cheered, trying to psych herself up.

The bender began to move her arms, bending the water around them in order to get them moving. Korra knew from Tenzin’s itinerary that this air temple was built into the mountain on the northern side of the island. It took several hours for Korra to get them to the island that housed the Western Air Temple but eventually they pulled up to the gravelly shore.  Besides the shoreline, the island seemed to be made up of grassy hills and a small forest that was just up the hill.

“We made it!” Asami cheered, stepping onto solid ground.

“Yay.” Korra said exhaustedly, sitting heavily on the shore.

Asami sat behind Korra. “Here, lean back.”

Korra did as she was told, leaning back until she was situated with her head in Asami’s lap. The older girl ran her hands through Korra’s hair, massaging her scalp. With the sun shining on her face and warming her up after spending all that time on the block of ice, Korra allowed herself to feel the exhaustion that was creeping into her body. She had noticed that her stamina was not what it used to be even with her three year recovery. Now fully relaxed, Korra let her eyes drift closed and let out a small noise of contentment.

Asami continued playing with Korra’s hair long after the other girl had fallen asleep. it was nice to see the worried lines of Korra's face relax, even if it was just for a short nap. This trip back in time had been quite the ordeal. Their vacation should have been over by now and Asami couldn’t help wondering how long it would be before they figured out a way to get home. She supposed that other than the impromptu kidnapping, this whole thing hadn’t been as stressful as some of the other situations they’d been in over the last few years but after the Kuvira fiasco Asami had been hoping for some peace and quiet. 

Asami stilled as she heard some faint voices. The voices sounding cheerful and laughter could be heard but Asami couldn't help feeling her heartbeat quicken. Whoever it was could be heard coming through the trees and seemed to be moving steady away. Just wanting to be sure they weren’t in any danger, Asami carefully rolled Korra until she was able to replace her headrest with Asami’s backpack, smirking slightly when Korra merely whined at the intrusion. Asami crept carefully towards the voices, trying to keep any noise to a minimum. She watched as a burly teenager with long hair and a mustache, a small kid with war paint and a oversize helmet on, and a boy in a makeshift wheelchair headed to a small boat that was down the shore from where Korra slept. Asami watched as they loaded the boy with the wheelchair into the boat and continued their conversation, oblivious to their audience.

“Do you think it will be okay to buy supplies from the mainland?” The boy in the wheelchair asked. “Even with Sokka and Zuko gone?”

“Of course. Toph and Katara can take care of themselves.” The burly teen answered. “And, besides, Aang’s the Avatar. They will be fine until we return.”

“Avatar Aang.” Asami whispered, unable to contain her smile. “We must be close.”

Watching until the group were well out to sea, Asami ran back to where Korra was, smiling again to see her girlfriend still sleeping peacefully. Asami knelt down and shook Korra’s shoulder, softly calling her name. She watched as Korra opened her eyes and blinked against the light.

“I wasn’t sleeping. I was just resting.” Korra mumbled, throwing her arm over her eyes to block the light.

“Well come on, sleepyhead. I found a lead that we’re close to Aang.” Asami said, briefly telling Korra about what she heard.

“Really?” Korra asked excitedly, sitting up. “Great! Let’s go!”

Korra groaned as she stood and Asami noticed that the burns on Korra’s arms looked angrier and more pronounced. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, my stamina isn’t what it used to be. But it’s definitely getting better.” Korra assured her, seeing the worried look on her girlfriend’s face. “But it’s going to take a while until I’m as fit as I was before I was poisoned.”

Asami nodded. “Okay. Well do you want to rest before we find Aang?”

“No, I’d rather be sure we don’t miss them.” Korra shook her head.

“Alright let’s go.” Asami agreed. They walked to where Asami estimated the voices had come from but they saw no sign of the temple.

“The temple is built underneath the cliff, remember?” Korra reminded her. “I bet the temple is right beneath our feet.”

“Well, if we had some rope we could propel from the edge.” Asami mused.

“Or I can just use earthbending to make my way down.” Korra mused. “If we go in at an angle, we can walk down.”

Asami stood back as Korra opened up a pathway in the ground. The girls began to descend and Korra periodically moved more earth out of the way as their path went lower. The light faded as they went deeper into the mountain and there was a couple of times that Asami bumped into Korra’s back.

“You okay there?” Korra laughed as Asami brushed against her again.

“Yeah, it’s just dark.” Asami chuckled.

“Well, I would light a fire but I can’t earthbend and keep the flame in my hand at the same-.” Korra cut off as the ground beneath her feet crumbled. “Argh!”

“Korra, hold on!” Asami quickly tried to grab onto Korra as she fell but she lost her footing and fell forward.

Asami tried desperately to find something to grab onto but beneath them, the tunnel opened up to a large, expansive, room. She heard Korra hit something in the room, shattering stone and hitting the floor heavily. Korra groaned as Asami braced herself for an impact but it never came. Instead, Asami felt a powerful breeze spin her, breaking the fall.

Knowing that Korra must have used her airbending to ease her fall, Asami groaned and got to her feet, staggering a bit. It was dark in the room but looking up to the ceiling, Asami estimated that they had fallen about 20 feet. Hearing Korra groan softly again, Asami ran over to where Korra had fallen and nearly tripped over the hunks of broken statue that surrounded the girl. Asami quickly cleared the space by kicking the rocks out of the way and knelt next to the younger girl.

“Korra?” Asami called, rolling the younger girl over until she could make out her face.

When there was no answer, Asami ran her hands over the girl’s face and the back of her head, checking for injuries. Asami felt a damp spot on the side of Korra’s head and knew that she was bleeding.

“Oh no, no, no, no!” Asami mumbled, pulling out an extra shirt and holding it to the wound.

Her eyes began adjusting to the dark and all around them Asami could make out stone statues placed strategically around the room. Leaving Korra for a moment, Asami groped around to the edge of the room, searching for a door. Asami found the door but it was stuck fast and it wouldn’t budge no matter how much she threw herself against it.

They were trapped in here.


End file.
